Military Family
Life Consultant (MHNGS and Magellan): Worked with
military personnel and their families on installations around the
world. Branches worked with: Army, Air Force, Marines, National Guard
and Reserves. Part-time 2005-2009; full-time 2009-2012.

Robert Silverman
graduated from Centennial High School in Champaign, Illinois, 1969. He
earned a bachelor's degree in Product Design, emphasizing equipment for
disabled children, and a master's degree in Rehabilitation Counseling,
both from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. He later earned a
Master of Fine Art's degree (M.F.A.) in Creative Writing, Bowling
Green State University, Ohio, 1987.

Mr.
Silverman completed his graduate school internship in the winter
semester of 1979-80 with psychiatrist Raymond Robertson, M.D., in
Westmont, Illinois. Dr. Robertson (1922-2007) served as Director of the
Institute for Juvenile Research in Chicago, as special assistant to the
Director of the Illinois Department of Mental Health, and then on the
medical staff at Riveredge Hospital in Forest Park and Hinsdale
Hospitals. He was the clinical director of the Riveredge Adolescent
Unit from 1979 to 1990 at a time when intensive therapeutic work was
still done with individuals and families. Ray (as he liked to be
called) was also a Gestalt therapist(Gestalt2) with a private practice
assisting clients develop what psychologist Abraham Maslow termed "Self-Actualization".
Dr. Robertson was a master therapist. Having been a student of Frederick (Fritz) Perls(Perls2)
he utilized the self-awareness methods of Gestalt therapy not only with
individual clients, but especially in his multiple, weekly therapy
groups and group therapeutic weekends. After completing his graduate
school internship with Dr, Robertson, Mr. Silverman received further
training in the self-awareness methods of Gestalt Therapy and today
uses these, along with cognitive-behavioral therapeutic methods, in his
own counseling practice.

Mr.
Silverman earned a Master of Fine Art's degree (M.F.A.) in Creative Writing, Bowling
Green State University, Ohio, 1987. He was one of thirteen
artists in the first year of the Arad Arts Project, Israel,
1992-93. In 1995, he trained for and became an interviewer for the oral
history project: Survivors of the Shoah:
Visual History Foundation.
This nonprofit organization was established in 1994 to collect and
preserve the testimonies of Holocaust survivors. He interviewed
survivors in Central and Southern Illinois and in Indiana and is a
speaker for the Holocaust Education committee of the Champaign-Urbana
Jewish Federation. Another important Holocaust education project with
which he had involvement was the Wings of Witness,
a sculpture developed by New York artist Jeffrey Schrier, utilizing the
11.5 million pop tabs collected by students at the Mahomet-Seymour
Middle school, Mahomet, Illinois.

From
2003-2006, Mr. Silverman was a member of the Board of Directors of The Whirlwind Project
with its mission to gather "people of many faiths and traditions to
explore sacred stories through music, dialogue and the arts, fostering
mutual respect and understanding in our community." Each year a
different theme was picked to explore:

2003: The book
of Job

2004: Meditation

2005:
Chaos~Creation~Creativity

2006: The Art
of Being Neighbors

In
2005, Mr. Silverman was recruited to become a Military Family Life
Consultant (MFLC). His first assignment was at a "Purple Camp," for
children and teens whose parents had been deployed. During the next
four years he worked many weekends with National Guard and Reserve
units across Illinois, as well as other Midwestern states at their
pre-deployment and reintegration events, marriage enrichment retreats,
and Yellow Ribbon
events. In 2009, he closed his counseling practice and, until October
2012, worked numerous 60-90 day assignments on multiple Army, Air Force
and Marine installations around the world. These assignments were in
Germany, Belgium, Mainland Japan, Okinawa Japan, Greenland, England,
Turkey, as well as in Virginia, North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas,
Hawaii and Alaska. The MFLC program is currently managed by MHNGS and Magellan.

Behavioral health counseling
is about the development and integration of self-awareness. With
professional degrees in counseling, creative writing and design, Robert
Silverman integrates multiple therapeutic modalities and creative
self-expression skills into his counseling practice.